


The Two of Us and Christmastime

by hexburn (thestormapproaches)



Series: King's Crown Universe Oneshots [2]
Category: League of Legends RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Christmas, Christmas Shopping, Christmas Special, Christmas market, Declarations Of Love, Domestic Bliss, Domestic Fluff, Engagement, Fluff, Love, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Pure Love, loosely based on a Weihnachtsmarkt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:42:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28205544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thestormapproaches/pseuds/hexburn
Summary: Four years ago, Tim and Nick first became boyfriends. Now, they've lived together, and loved each other, and made each other so happy, and adopted their own "child" of sorts - just a kitten, so far, but Nick knows he would happily do anything with Tim, no matter where their fates lead them.And that is why he is nervously toying with the black velvet box in his pocket as he and Tim shop through the Midwinter market.---Set in the future of the King's Crown Universe - no prior reading necessary!
Relationships: Nick "LS" De Cesare/Tim "Nemesis" Lipovšek
Series: King's Crown Universe Oneshots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2024131
Comments: 7
Kudos: 18
Collections: DreamServer 2020 Advent Event





	The Two of Us and Christmastime

**Author's Note:**

> title from the song [You and Me and Christmastime](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGxwQW4tFc4) by Sheffield  
> vaguely inspired by [this video, hosted on Streamable](https://streamable.com/1b0llj) of Nemesis answering a question about what he would do if LS proposed to him
> 
> set in the future of King's Crown and Cat's Foot
> 
> shoutout to LilRoundabout for the lovely art! uwu <3

As Tim holds his hand and they walk through the plaza, made splendid with the trappings of a Midwinter market and festival in one, Nick’s fingers anxiously trace over the rounded corners of the black velvet box in his pocket.

Today is the day.

Today is _the day._

He has been Tim’s boyfriend for four years, his familiar for three, and today - _today_ \- is the day.

And, well, they’ve talked about it. Not in detail, but there have been plenty of hints from both Tim and Nick in general about getting married. There was that night at dinner when Tim directly asked if he would want to get married at some point, then clarified that moment wasn’t a proposal and he didn’t have a ring, but since they’d come so far already... y’know. And sometimes Nick teases Tim about a theoretical honeymoon, which they’ve somewhat-jokingly decided to have in the mountains in Slovenia. Tim says there’s a beautiful spot he remembers, from a family trip when he was little, where the trees blossomed pink in morning spring mists. Sometimes, when Tim thinks he’s not awake, Nick catches him thinking about walking through those meadows so strongly that Nick can feel it through their bond. Maybe that’s not necessarily related directly to marriage itself, but it’s definitely something, right?

Tim pinches Nick’s cheek, snapping him back to reality. “I know I’m cute,” he mumbles, but Nick can hear him perfectly through that magical, witch-familiar bond, “but you really don’t have to stare, sunflower.”

“Aren’t sunflowers supposed to face the sun? So obviously I do have to stare,” Nick retorts.

“They only do that when they’re young, so they can attract more pollinators and reproduce.”

Nick snorts. “Well, it just makes even more sense, then,” he jokes.

He watches with a smug grin as first realisation, then a horribly adorable red blush flood over Tim’s face, and Tim whines out loud and shrieks with embarrassment through their bond as he reaches for one of Nick’s ears. Luckily for Nick’s ears, Nick manages to fend Tim off even as Tim tries to go for a pinch and pouts so sweetly that Nick can’t help but kiss his cheek.

“You walked into that one,” Nick says, grinning and catching Tim’s wrists as Tim tries to make another grab for Nick’s sensitive cat-ears.

Tim sticks his tongue out, a childish response to an immature joke, but lets his hands fall to their sides, still attached at the wrists. “You think you’re cute, huh,” he grumbles. Still, he looks so perfect in the snow dusted over the streets and the soft, warm lighting of the streetlamps decked in wreaths and pine boughs, a homemade and lopsided scarf tucked around his neck and a cute, homemade, properly-formed and warm witch hat with a festive ribbon on his head. Nick swats its brim and giggles.

“Yeah,” Nick answers, “but I know you’re cute.”

“Mhm. You’re not getting out of giving me a Midwinter present, by the way.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it, buttercup.”

\---

As they meander through the market, Tim pauses every once in a while to look at the goods offered. There are candies and confectionery art, all sorts of handwoven clothing made for warmth in the winter, cups of rich hot chocolate and creamy lattes and plentiful mulled wine (though never as good as Jus’s, of course). Tim mostly looks at the fresh spices and exotic seeds, though - “garden nerd,” Nick says, to which Tim calls him a hedge nerd when Nick stares at hedging charms for way too long. He still looks adorable like this, poking through a magical bouquet of sunflowers in winter.

It reminds Nick of that first time they went to the Midwinter market. A bumbling affair, really, as they awkwardly toed around the issue until Tim took his hand. The night was cold, but Tim’s hand was warm, and it was enough to soothe Nick’s shivers and the wind threatening to seep through his jacket. Nick still remembers the stars.

Tim has always loved stories and stars, and the way he stares at the cosmic witches’ stands is no different than it was those few years ago: eyes wide, almost stuck on the beauty. Of course, their brand of magic is more complex, and so the trinkets are certainly more expensive than any in the neighbouring stands. Money isn’t a worry for these two, though; they certainly are not rich but Nick and Tim’s ingrained penny-pinching habits and Nick’s new job mean holiday splurges like these are definitely doable.

And anyway, there’s a necklace with a real star in it, a very little bubble of light and sparkles guaranteed to bring more magical energy, and there’s a little golden leaf on top of the bubble as though the star contained within is the most beautiful fruit of the heavens, resting on a soft cloth pillow on earth. Nick buys it as “discreetly” as he can. He still knows Tim is watching, of course, but Tim pretends not to, and Nick makes sure to put the necklace box in his other pocket, the one not already occupied by the ring box. It’ll make a good present for his beloved, for the sixth day of Midwinter.

“Ready to go?” Tim asks with a sweet little smile.

“Yes, of course,” Nick purrs.

Tim holds his hand again, and Nick lets Tim lead him off to the next stand.

Over the next few stops, Tim buys gifts for their friends, homemade soaps and candles from Jus’s favourite vendor and a piece of well-grained, luxurious cherry wood for Oskar, the kind he likes to whittle for his new hobby. A new journal for his mama to record all of her green-witch notes, fresh writing quills for his papa, a bag of coffee candies for Rasmus and Martin and new cards for Marek and pretty jars to put bath bombs in for Miha, Laure and Eefje, until he has several bags of goods to tote around. Both Tim and Nick work together to pick out toys for Lyka, their wonderful kitten with a penchant for ripping his old toys apart. As per usual, Tim forgets to buy any ribbon for wrapping, so while Tim inspects exotic spices for his own use, Nick makes sure to buy a few varieties of ribbon.

Tim always gets picky about how he wraps his gifts, even if it doesn’t matter to anyone but him. But Nick likes that - he’s adorably specific. Marek’s gift needs silver ribbon, Laure and Eefje need rose gold, Miha needs gold, Mama and Papa need gold, Rasmus needs silver but Martin prefers gold so their ribbons need to be a combination of the two, Jus needs rose gold and Oskar needs silver. All these little idiosyncrasies. It’s nice to have little things to learn about Tim, the little ways he likes to set things up but also how forgetful he can be about them. That’s why Nick is tucking three spools of ribbon into the rest of Tim’s shopping bags, after all. To support Tim and remember what he forgets.

Of course, while Tim focuses on buying gifts for his family and friends, Nick also should get a few things for their friends and his own friends at work; the eight days of Midwinter won’t magically fulfil themselves without Nick buying the proper gifts. Tanja would like a collection of fresh USB drives, and Nick makes sure to pick up a collection of ones embedded into carved wood, something both ornamental and useful. Jack would probably like a basket of lemon peels and artisanal honey, too, for all the lemon tea he makes for his throat tired from casting the duelling matches, so Nick pulls Tim by the hand over to another spice stand and has him help determine which jars of lemon peel are best. After that, they buy a jar of clover honey, too, and Nick puts both into Tim’s bags. He takes two to hold instead of Tim - just a little thing to help his sweetheart, which Tim answers with a kiss.

They’ve meandered their ways to the centre of the Midwinter market, where food stands abound alongside little standing tables, clusters of people gathered at most, with a few empty spots. Their bags rest on the table, and Tim looks at Nick with his sweetest little smile.

Nick rolls his eyes. “Yes, I will buy a crepe for you,” he sighs with false exasperation.

“Thank you, sunflower,” Tim says, his voice saccharine-sweet.

“Ham and cheese?” Nick asks, just to make sure Tim wants his normal order.

“Yes, thank you!”

Another chaste kiss and a sappy smile, and Nick walks off to the crepe stand.

“Don’t forget to get two forks for the chimney cake this time,” Tim calls after him, knowing Nick would never be able to walk past the nearby pastry shop without getting one of the sweet, fruit-stuffed delights.

“Yes, honey,” Nick answers in his most mocking, playful tone.

The sound of Tim’s laughter follows after him to the queue.

“You’ll spoil your appetite, you know,” Nick says, watching fondly as Tim tears into the ham-and-cheese crepe with a pleased expression.

“I know,” Tim sighs. He leans against Nick’s side at their small standing table and smiles at nothing, lost in thoughts. “Here, you want a bite?”

Of course, Nick isn’t stupid; hold some good food to his lips and he’ll munch a bit just like anyone else. Plus, it’s Tim - so who cares if they’re indirectly kissing when they obviously do so much worse? He takes a bite and hums at the taste, strong and salty with the ham and creamy, sweet, nutty cheese. “ ‘s good.” Tim always has good taste.

“There,” Tim says with a smug smile. “Now I’m spoiling both our appetites.”

“Like mine wasn’t already bad enough with the chimney cake,” Nick retorts.

Tim just keeps smiling and coyly snags a piece of fruit from the middle of the cake. “It’s good,” he mumbles through his mouthful, “and anyway, gaining a little weight wouldn’t be bad for you. You’ve been losing weight since you started running the amateur tournaments, haven’t you?”

Nick blinks. “I haven’t weighed myself in a while,” he murmurs. “Maybe.” Though he’s had to improve his eating habits in general, since he’s not the voracious and horribly-thin, half-homeless ixtal he’d been only four years ago - perhaps he’s trimmed down his meals a bit too much, considering how often he has to grab quick snacks between making sure the production side of the tournaments runs smoothly.

“Well, all Jus’s sweets should help with that,” Tim says decisively. “And I think Oskar is making an entire turkey for the feast day on the Sixth of Midwinter, so we’ll have leftovers.”

“Oh, nice. I’ll make sandwiches and stir-fry, then.”

“Sounds good.” Leaning against each other and watching over their bags atop the table, Tim and Nick finish their snacks before they get too cold. Trading bites of each others’ foods is just part of the fun - even if they do drop a few slices of banana on the ground. “Want the last bite?” Tim offers as he bites off just enough of the remaining bit of his crepe to leave a bite.

“No, thanks, babe,” Nick says politely. Tim always offers him the last bit of food; he’s too kind, too lovely, too gentle and lovable. “Want the last piece of fruit?”

“Only if it’s a strawberry,” Tim answers.

Nick holds up the slice on his fork, saved especially for Tim, and feeds him the piece, and they both giggle and grin at each other. It’s cold out, but Tim feels warm and snuggly even when Nick is only touching him through their mental connection and nothing else.

Before they continue on their way through the Midwinter Market, Tim’s mittenned hands tuck the ends of Nick’s homemade overcoat tighter around him to keep him warm. Unlike the rough, slightly-mismade weave of the beautiful navy-blue scarf around Tim’s neck, this one is well-made and in a lovely light-brown colour - Tim always seems to know exactly what Nick wants, though now that can be attributed to their mental bond, since Nick has been Tim’s familiar for so long. Right, the mental connection- Nick needs to make sure his nervousness about proposing doesn’t leak through to Tim and spoil the surprise. He grins at Tim with his most distracting, coy, teasing smile, the one that says “I love you” and “I’d do anything for you” all in one.

Then, with a light kiss to Nick’s nose and a reply on Tim’s cheek, they wander again.

\---

Finally, Tim has finished his shopping - “it’s your shopping, too, you buy even more than I do!” comes the protest when Nick accidentally thinks too loudly, loud enough for Tim to hear - and they’ve wandered towards the park area, not lit too brightly by streetposts. It’s nice to live in a place that respects light pollution. The stars are still visible, only the bright ones, but enough to make out Soraka’s hoof and Aurelion Sol’s star nursery. Tim has pointed these out a hundred times, by now, but Nick still plays dumb and lets Tim tell the story all over again.

If Nick is being honest, of course, he hasn’t really been listening to Tim tell the story the last fifty times or so, but it’s a perfect excuse to watch Tim at his best, his most adorable, his sweetest and most beautiful. He blathers on about the stars as creatures, falling and erring so many times and Soraka picking them back up, until they had all fallen so many times that their bodies chipped to pieces and Soraka still hung them in the sky to tell tales of all who had come before them, and Tim goes on another side trek about love and the gods of it, some sappy lore Nick is pretty sure Tim snatched in part from the romance novels Jus sometimes leaves lying around the house. But it’s Tim, silliness and blabbering and all, and Nick finds himself enraptured.

Look, Nick knows he’s smitten. He knows his boyfriend could ask him to do anything - all their shopping, make dinner for a week, steal a rose from Zyra’s garden for him, pluck a feather from Rakan’s robe, fight Hecarim with no one at his side but Tim and win - and Nick would do it happily, no matter how seemingly impossible. But there’s just something about the way Tim smiles in the starlight that pulls at Nick’s entire being. He’s just...

Gorgeous.

“Honey?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re being a bit loud,” Tim chuckles, tapping the side of his head, their own little signal when they lose control of their mental bond.

“Right, sorry,” Nick stammers, retracting his mental thoughts with a horrid blush at how fawning they had been. He’s lucky Tim didn’t catch anything about what will come next, in just a few minutes.

“ ‘s okay.” A kiss lands on Nick’s cheek, warm at first but rapidly cooling as the tiny wet spot left behind hits the frigid air. “Come on, it’s about time to head home. Soup should be done by now, and Jus will have the bread baked right when we get there, if we leave now,” Tim points out, grabbing his bags and Nick’s hand and starting to pull away from the spot they first held hands at.

“Well- hey, hey, hey! Let’s just... stay here a little longer.”

“But it’s colddd,” Tim whines. Still, he leans into Nick’s side, and Nick smiles into the fluff of Tim’s hair and hat.

“Yeah,” Nick mumbles awkwardly. “B-better stay close.” As if there would be any way for Tim to get closer to him, aside from squirming into Nick’s jacket, what with how he’s hugging Nick even with the shopping bags in their hands.

“I will,” Tim promises. “And you better, too!”

“As long as you want me to,” Nick murmurs.

The silence drags on as they stare at the midnight sky, dark and speckled with beautiful stars, and yet the silence seems like nothing. There’s still the soft, constant chatter of Tim’s thoughts in Nick’s head, that bond connection between them. And after living with Tim for so many years, there’s a kind of comfort in him.

“Aren’t you getting cold, too?” Tim wonders with a voice like warm, fuzzy blankets. “I should crochet ears for a winter hat for you. It would be so cute!”

“It would,” Nick murmurs. His fingertips break away from Tim’s for a moment - oh, why had he been so stupid as to put the box in his right pocket, he knows Tim likes holding his right hand!

Tim gives him a curious look. “Now you have to get mittens out?” Playfully, Tim shakes his head and tsks. “Remember when we had to share mittens last year because you forgot yours?”

“Of course I remember.” A gentle kiss, and all ridicule is gone from Tim’s tone. “Remember when you first held my hand?”

“Oh! That was right here, wasn’t it,” Tim recalls with a distant gaze and the traces of a smile blooming on his face.

“Mhm.” Slyly, Nick takes the box in his pocket into his hand.

“You stubborn idiot, you wanted to keep on going like nothing was wrong even though your hands were white and your jacket pockets had holes,” Tim murmurs, shaking his head. “I still can’t believe it took me and Jus a month to get you to wear a new one.”

“I was already taking so much from you, though,” Nick points out. “I didn’t want to take more.” Especially not when he was still just a poor ixtal with so many needs to be met.

Tim slips his free hand between Nick’s arm and his side, tugging Nick’s hand partway out of his pocket in one terrifying moment. “We’ve talked about this, honey,” he says softly.

“Right. Sorry.”

“ ‘s alright.” Still gazing skyward, Tim can’t help but chuckle. Warm emotions run through Nick’s mind, all from Tim’s connection to him, both physical and mental, pink and green and lively like fresh flowers, and Nick smiles, too, not even sure what he’s smiling at but Tim. “Remember when we went to the beach and you kissed me in the waves?” Tim reminisces, and now Nick understands. “And it tasted so bad we had to eat half of our watermelon just to get the taste to go away?”

“Yeah, I remember,” Nick giggles. “What made you think of that?”

“Oh, you know. Kissing you, being in love, the usual.”

Nick is very careful to keep his thoughts quiet and not broadcast them to Tim in the way that has become second nature to him. “The usual,” Nick echoes with a soft smile.

“The usual,” Tim repeats.

Well, now is as good a time as any.

With the box in one hand and a fistful of his own jacket nervously in the other, Nick carefully slips his arm free of Tim’s touch and finally takes a knee.

And Tim just stares at him.

For better or worse, in all Realms, in all forms, echo Nick and Tim’s vows from their witch-to-familiar bonding ceremony in Nick’s mind.

“Tim,” Nick starts shakily. “Tim, you’re the love of my life.” His voice wavers- get it together, come on, the mirror in their bathroom knows this speech well and so does Nick. “It’s been four years since I first met you,” he courageously continues on, “and those four years have been the happiest years of my life. I never thought I would ever be truly loved until I met you.”

With a slow, stabilising breath, Nick opens the box to show off the ring. He thinks he can faintly hear Tim gasp, but it might just be the breath of the wind running by.

“I love you more than anything. Every morning, I wake up happy just because you’re there. And- and I want to feel that every day for the rest of our lives.”

There’s a soft rustling, but Nick is still too afraid to look up.

“So. Um- I mean, I’m already your familiar and everything, y’know, maybe I’m getting a bit greedy,” he awkwardly chuckles, “but... I, um-” Good gods, Nick, spit it out, he’s practised this so much, too much to fail now-

“Will you marry me?”

His eyes look up just in time for his face to be buried in the soft warmth of Tim’s sweater and his jacket.

“Yes,” Nick can barely hear through the thick fluff of Tim’s coat, muffling his ears. “Yes, yes, yes, yes! Oh, gods, yes,” Tim says over and over again, hugging Nick’s face so tight that he can barely stand up. Thankfully, he does let go just long enough for Nick to stand, and then Nick is wrapped in another overwhelmingly perfect hug. “Yes,” he says again, holding Nick’s face firmly in his soft, mittenned hands. “Yes.”

“I heard you the first ten times, buttercup,” Nick teases. He can hardly get the first few words out, though, before his lips are captured in a sweet, candy-cane, hot-chocolate kiss.

“I love you.”

Tim’s smile rivals the stars above in their beauty and his radiance.

“I love you too, Tim.”

And, despite himself, Nick can feel his own little stars start to well up in his eyes. It’s silly, isn’t it? He’s happier than he’ll ever be in his life, probably; certainly happier than he’s ever been before. Softly, he sniffles and buries his face in Tim’s neck. “I love you so much,” he murmurs.

“Awww,” Tim cooes softly, brushing the tears away from Nick’s eyes before they get cold and painful. “I love you too, so much, sunflower.” Through watery eyes, Nick sees Tim’s smile; he blinks away the tears quickly to make sure he can see that beautiful face more clearly. Tim smiles at him, pressing one last tip-toes kiss to the tears and yanking his own mitten off, proudly holding out his bare hand. Right - the ring. Nick fumbles with the box until he manages to slip the ring onto Tim’s finger, cool metal against warm, callused hands, and, as soon as the little piece of jewellery rests solidly on Tim’s hand, Nick finds his lips snared in another kiss.

\---

“It’s so pretty,” Tim murmurs as they walk home. In the end, they each decided to carry some bags in one hand while holding with the other. Nick can feel the cool yet warm metal of the ring on Tim’s finger against his own, a solid reminder and pure proof of their love in a simple touch, even if Nick knew it all along.

“I’m glad you like it. I spent a long time picking it out,” he chuckles.

“It’s a cat, isn’t it? Holding the emerald.”

“Yeah. It’s kind of silly. But I picked it because- well, you know, I’m wrapped around your finger,” Nick mumbles, trying not to blush overly red and probably failing. At least he has his scarf, made with love and thick, soft wool and Tim’s skilful hands, to hide his face in.

“You’re so adorable,” Tim cooes, kissing Nick’s cheek again. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

\---

When they finally return to Oskar and Jus’s house/shop, the peace is short-lived. As soon as Jus spots the ring on Tim’s finger, he shrieks and runs to hug both of them. “You’re getting married!” he cheers. “Gods, you’re getting married! About fucking time!”

Tim and Nick grin under the smothering hugs until Oskar plucks Jus off of them - for which they both give him a grateful look. “Congrats, you two,” Oskar grins. “Tim, is that-”

“No,” Tim answers, holding out his hand. “Nick beat me to it,” he chuckles, and Nick smiles with confusion written in his eyes. There’s something here he’s not been let in on.

Before he can ask Tim through their mental connection, though, there’s a pair of black-and-white paws at his leg. Lyka is a little frightened of all the noise, as he tells Nick this with a meow. Nick scoops him up and holds him like a proud father as they all go to eat dinner.

On the way home, Lyka perches on Tim’s shoulders, sometimes hopping to Nick’s, sometimes falling down. Of course, Tim and Nick keep picking him back up, putting him in a bag or a basket. But he’s a curious little kitten, prone to toppling plant pots or tearing apart his toys to figure out what’s inside, and so Nick makes sure to warn him to stay close. It’s cold out, and the wolves and foxes that sometimes prowl the city would be eager for a meal. At home, he’s free to roam their apartment, though after a long day of Jus and Oskar babysitting him, it would seem that he, too, is eager to sleep. As Lyka curls up in his bed and stretches and yawns, Nick scratches behind his ears, and the youngster goes to Lillia without a fuss.

“Come on, you take forever to get ready,” Tim teases, already snuggled into their bedsheets with damp hair when Nick steps into their bedroom. His ring shines in the soft glow-lamp light, its little emerald sparkling beautifully, and Nick’s heart swells with happiness. “Shower fast,” he hums with a sleepy smile. “I have something I want to give you when you’re done.”

“Is it a hickey?” Nick jokes, already on his way to the bathroom.

“Not what I had in mind, but that can be arranged, too,” Tim winks.

Nick grins and hurries through his shower and brushing his teeth. He tries not to get too distracted with his own thoughts - wouldn’t want to keep Tim waiting, after all - but at the same time, he feels like he’s so close to guessing what Tim’s early Midwinter gift for him is. Oskar had been teasing about it too, hadn’t he? So it must be something important enough to discuss with Jus and Oskar, at the very least. But he can’t quite put his finger on it. With a sigh, Nick towels himself off and ruffles it through his hair so blow-drying will be faster, and he does that, too, all with a tired, habitual precision, the same way he returns to their bedroom wrapped in a towel and kisses Tim’s cheek before getting changed into one of Tim’s old uni hoodies and comfy pyjama pants. His cat-ears twitch happily as Tim’s earthy, rich, warm, flowery-grassy scent with just a taste of coffee and fruit surrounds him.

“Well, don’t you look dashing.”

Tim’s laugh is clearly a little teasing, but at the same time, he looks so good in clothes they share, in the bed they share, in the room they share, in the apartment they share, with a ring on his finger declaring their love, that Nick doesn’t even bother to amass a strong counterpoint. “As do you,” he says simply, partial tease, partial truth.

“C’mere,” Tim says with a roll of his eyes. He pulls back part of the blankets to let Nick lie down next to him, warm and cuddly-

Ah, but Tim slips out of bed as soon as Nick lies down, and he retrieves something from his bedside table’s drawer, and as quickly as Nick had lain down, he sits up.

“So this was going to be a big gift with a speech and everything,” says Tim, turning back to face him with a little, gentle, loving smile, the kind Nick has always liked best, “and Oskar and Jus said I should put the ring in a flower - one of those really big peonies, or a sunflower - but then you beat me to it,” he chuckles, holding out another ring in its little black box. “This way we won’t have to go shopping for a ring for you, after all. Unless you want to.”

“Tim...” Nick’s voice wavers - he knows his voice wavers, he’s so happy and achy and his eyes are already filling with tears. There’s too much happiness in him, struggling to get out and to show the world, what is he even meant to do with all this emotion? “Tim,” Nick repeats senselessly, pressing a hand over his mouth to stifle his sobs of joy.

“I’ve loved you so much, sunflower,” Tim continues, grey-green eyes soft and genuine. “And I want to keep loving you forever, if you’ll have me. I know this is kind of just a formality but I worked on the speech, okay, I want to tell you part of it at least.” He laughs softly, and if Nick could fall even more in love he would. Maybe he somehow does, even though he already loves Tim more than he could ever imagine. “Because... you mean so much to me,” Tim adds. “And I want you to know that.”

His thumb traces over Nick’s cheek, and Nick pushes his head harder into Tim’s hand until Tim’s palm is cupped against his cheek, the tips of his fingers splayed warm through Nick’s hair. “Oh, gods,” Nick sniffles.

“Nick, sunflower, will you marry me?”

“Just put the damn ring on my hand already!” he stammers and laughs and whines.

“I need an answer~” Tim lilts.

“Yes. A thousand times, yes,” Nick says, and the words are barely out of his mouth before Tim slips the beautiful rose-vine ring with a ruby surrounded by gold rosepetals and leaves along the vine around his finger. It’s so beautiful, it stuns Nick into a smile that he can’t help but bury in Tim’s neck as he sniffles and shakes with uncontrollable happiness.

Tim’s hands caress Nick’s face like gentle, magic leaves, fronds of a fern on a warm sunny day, thornless rose petals with just a hint of an edge on his fingernails trailing through Nick’s hair. His thumbs swipe away Nick’s happy tears, alongside airy sylphlike kisses that ease his heartache and bring so much joy that he can’t help but cry more. His lips land on Nick’s, soft and sweet and smiling, at the same time that his eyes, comforting pale green, meet Nick’s rich earth.

And then Nick stops looking, and loses himself in Tim’s kisses.

“I love you,” Tim murmurs somewhere in the middle of them all, and once he begins, it’s like he can’t stop. “I love you, I love you, I love you,” he repeats between perfect, wondrous lip-locks and warm touches and hugging Nick tight, so tight, so beautifully tight like he’ll never ever let go.

“I love you,” Nick answers with a wet shine on his eyes and his lips, stretched into an unstoppable smile.

With the rest of his life as happy as this, Nick simply knows he’ll never want anything more.

\---

Art made by [LilRoundabout](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilRoundabout)!


End file.
